Bond-wire connector.



W. W. COLEMAN.

BOND WIRE CONNECTOR.. APPLICATION FILED Dicks. 1916.

Patented Oct. 2,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEEY1 SIM/U014 m meamvrz m as, in anew,

W. W. COLEMAN. BOND WIRE CONNECTOR. APPLICATION FILED 050. 9. me.

Patented Oct. 2,1917.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 WILLIAM W. COLEMAN, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

i 1 BOND-WIRE CONNECTOR.

Application filed December 9, 1916. Serial No. 135,970.

To'aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it .known that I, WILLIAM W. Conn MAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city of New York, county of New York, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Bond-Wire Con nector, of which the following is a specification.-

track circuits as used therein, having especial reference to the means by which a source ofvelectro-mo-tive force or a translating device may be connected to track rails.

As is well known by those skilled in .the railway electric signal art, a track circuit includes a source of electro-motive force and a translating device, each of which must be connected to the rails of a trackway by means of electric conductors. The source of electro-motive force and the translating device are, in practice, as is well known, located some little distance from the rails, and as the sourceof electro-motive force is forwell understood reasons of very low potential the conduct'ors are composed of copper, which by reason of extremely high conductivity causes'the least electrical loss between the source of electro-motive force and the rails, and the rails'and thetranslating device, respectively. The connection of the copper conductor is not made directly to the rail as .by welding (of course it cannot be soldered) because it has been found that there are many objections to exposing a copperv wire in the position would necessarily be in.

The chief objection is that it would soon be stolen. Another objection is that it is not of sufficient mechanical strength to successfully withstand the rough usage which a stroyed.

Because of the above stated objections, it has been practically the universal custom in railway electric signaling'to lay the'insulated c ndu tors fromthe'source of electro? Specification'of Letters Patent.

such a wire- Patented Oct. 2, 1917.

motive force to the rails, and from the translating device to the rails in some form of trunking or conduit laid on and in the ground which is usually brought up by the side of the rail to form what is known as a boot-leg. The copper wire extends as far as the boot-leg, where it is firmly soldered to a galvanized iron wire which is carried upward and out of the boot-leg and con nected to the rail.

This galvanized ironwire is of good size so that it is husky and strong and well resists the knocking about which it necessarily gets due to its location. Furthermore as it is thoroughly galvanized it is. not affected by the elements. It is impracticable to attach this galvanized wire to the rail by welding, brazing or soldering, and there is practically but'one form of clamp connection which is at all satisfactory, and this is the one known in the art as the channel pin connection. The channel pin connection comprises a hole in the web or flange of the rail and a tapered pin having a channel or groove along one side in which the wire to be attached is placed, after which the pin is driven firmly'in' the'hole in the rail.

If a connection between the rails and a source of electro m'otive force or a translating device is made in the manner pointed out, that is with-insulated copper wire laid in conduit or trunking up to the rail and then by galvanized iron wire securely soldered to the copper wire, the joint being located in the trunking, and the galvanized iron wire being joined to the web of the rail by a channel pin, avery serviceable construction results but which nevertheless in spite of the fact that it is practically universal, has serious objectionable features which will be pointed out and which it is the primary object of this'invention to ob viate. The only place at which the joint between the galvanized iron wire and the copper wire can be made is right at the place where it is to remain, that is on the trackway. In order to make a proper joint at such place it is then necessary for a skilled workman to go tosuch place with a full equipment of tools and supplies which includes wire scrapers and cleaners, flux, solder and last but not least a blow-torch or solder pot and furnace. Thus equipped ifheis a competent man he can do a good jobif itis good weather,=but if it is very cold or raining or snowing it has been found by experience that the joints made are not always upto standard and not unusuallysoon give trouble. Furthermore after the joint is once made and tucked down intotlie'bootleg it isvery difficult to inspect and may well getinto very bad electrical condition without the knowledge of themaintainer, and due to its location under or on the surface ofv theflground in the'trunking water is likely to get on it and corrosion set in.

This more rea'dily happens due to the fact features incident to the making of a joint such as has been describedvbut also to pro-' vide a joint which after being made will not be at alllikely to fail and.which-: furthermore can be inspected by mere viewingwithout manual manipulation. H

A further object of appli'cantzs invention is" to obviate the liability of snow and Water getting into the boot-leg and trunking and so injuring the electrical insulation of the wire. therein or diminishing its insulation resistance, orcausing corrosion of the wire the several views:

itself= q I Other objectsand advantages of the invention will appear hereinafter the description of the invention progresses, and

v the novel features of the invention will be pointedout in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings inv which is illustrated preferred physical embodiments of the invention, and in which like reference characters refer tolike parts in ,j Figure 1, is a crosssectional view showin m im roved form of connection Fi 7 2, is a cross sectionalview showing a modified form-of my connection; Fig.3, is a view partly in cross sectionshowing another form of my connectionaFig. 4, is an elevation of the same construction as Fig. 3 viewed'in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 3; Fig. 5,

r isa crossse'ctional view of. still another modification of my invention, and'FigaQis a top planviewof the construction [shown by Fig. 5. 7 v

In Fig. l, 1 designates a track raih z a v portion oftrunking;3 aninsulated copper wire attached at the end not-shown to a sonrce'of electron-motive force or atranslating device; 4 a galvanized iron OI'COP. per clad. wire which must connect at one s end. to therail. and at the other to thee-cop per-wires'. a a a a i he trunking, iii-has a-hole 5- formed-there in and' ljocated directly over this hole and attached to the trunking by any appropriate 'me'ans as by screws fi, is what I term my combined trunking cap and connection block 7'. This block is formed with a straight or tapered hole 8 therein and shouldbe of substantial dimensions, sufficientat leastto easily resist destruction by the driving of a' tapered pin into the hole 8. The formt of; .the'blockr is quiteyim-l. material if it is of' such form that it can when appropriately applied act as a closure for the boot-legopening 5, and can be readily secured-as by screws 6 to the trunkingorboot-leg. .Inpractice the 1o1nt' between the connection'block 7. and trunking or boot-leg 2 may be made water-tight bytheuse of any suitable materialbetween the two; such as a red leadandlinseed oilpaste or putty. v

It is to be understood, however, that although an important advantage of myconnection block is meet asa closure; for the hole 5', nevertheless this is not a necessary function, and the blockneed not necessarily be made ;of such forms or so applied a'svto this function, ust so long it serves its indispensable function of acting as a{ connection block. n a 1 Thegalvanized iron wire Q is attached-by; the well known single channel pin 9-to the web of the mill and is then formed. into" a coil to allow for expansion and contraction: and the inevitable creeping ofthe rail 1 whichoccurs in practice: The othenend of the iron wire 4 isthen inserted inzone groove of. the duplex channel pin 10,- into a the. other groove of which is-inserted the end of the copper wire 3and allthree'are then inserted, into the-hole 8 in the connection block and the duplex channel pin 10 driven;- firmly home. I a

If the surface of'the hole 8' in the connection block'is afresh one and the wires- 4 and- 3- are scraped bright beforethe above described operation a perfect electrical connec tion is-made between wire 3 and wire 4 and so betweenv wire 3 and the rail 1. Furthermore as is well known to those skilled inthe use of channel pinsthis connection will re tam its electrical, characteristics without change practicallyindefinitely.v

The making of, a joint such as has been described requires practically no tools other than a hammer and a screw driver which every. signal maintainer always has with him,.and can be made to give a perfect electrical connectionby any; the most unskilful its superiority in first cost and lasting qualities and efiectiveness over all other forms of boot-leg connection heretofore used; and has conclusively shown that it is an important advance in the art of rendering safe the transportation of freight and passengers on railways.

Some signal engineers have been so fearful of a broken connection to the rail in the past that they have duplicated the iron wires, as 4, using two channel pins 9 and two wires, as 4:, as shown in Fig. 2. It is true that this connection is one of the most important if not the most important connection in railway electric track circuit signaling and they were well ustified in their precaution, so applicant'has provideda combined trunking cap and connection block adapted to be used in such situation as shown by Fig. 2. In this modification the connection block has two holes formed therein, in one of which a duplex channel pin 10 binds the two wires I and in the other of which a single grooved channel pin as 11 binds the wire 3. It is believed, however, that the superior joint devised by applicant will in the future avoid the necessity of using two galvanized iron wire con nections to the rail.

In some cases the trunking is extended vertically as shown by Figs. 3 and 4c in which case a diilerent form of combined trunking cap and connection block should be used. Applicant has provided such a form in which the number of holes and the method of connecting the wires are the same as is shown by Fig. 2,

Some signal engineers use a round form of trunking or conduit 2 as shown in Figs.

description. It may be pointed out, however, that in this form two holes are formed, one of which serves to retain the channel pin and iron wire connected to the rail, the other of which serves to retain the channel pin and copper wire connected to the source of electro-motive force or translating device.

Applicant does not wish it to be understood that his invention resides in any particular form of channel pin as single, duplex or triplex, or in the use of any one or all in any particular combination, but his invention is commensurate with the scope of the appended claims.

That I claim is:

1. In a railway track circuit connection, in combination; a rail; a wire connected to said rail; a wire for connection to said first wire; trunking in which said second wire is located formed with a hole therein; means for forming said connection and closing said hole comprising a metallic block formed with a hole therein, a channel pin for binding said first mentioned wire electrically to said block in said hole and means for binding said second wire to said block; and means for binding said block to said trunkmg.

2. In a railway track circuit connection, in combination; a rail; a wire connected to said rail; a wire for connection to said first wire; trunking in which said second wire is located formed with a hole therein; means for forming said connection and closing said hole comprising a metallic block formed with two holes therein, a channel pin for binding said first mentionedwire electrically to said block in one ofsaid holes and a channel pin for binding the other of said wires electrically to said block in the other of said holes; and means for binding said block to said trunking.

WVILLIAM W. COLEMAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each. by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

' Washington, D. C. 

